Recyclable single-sheet mailer

ABSTRACT

The recyclable single-sheet mailer is a single sheet of predominantly opaque paper stock having a front face, a rear face, top and bottom edges, and a transparent and seamless addressee window area defined thereon. All printed content is applied to the rear face of the mailer. The mailer has a plurality of transverse fold lines formed parallel to the top and bottom edges, dividing the sheet into a plurality of panels configurable as either a one-way mailer or as mailer with a business or courtesy reply envelope. Furthermore, a two-dimensional barcode containing addressee specific account information may be printed on the reply envelope to facilitate handling. Finally, addressee information, including bar-coded POSTNET data, may be printed in mirror image within the transparent window area, facilitating correct barcode scanning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to mailers and envelopes, and particularly to single-sheet mailers that may serve both as a billing statement and a built-in reply envelope.

2. Description of the Related Art

Single-sheet mailers are popular with businesses because they offer companies a convenient means of transmitting statements to customers. Mailers include both one-way mailers and mailers with built in pre-addressed envelopes, which have been developed for the situations where the customer needs to respond back or send back a check to the original business concern.

It is desirable to produce mailers that comprise a single sheet of paper, thereby making the production and printing of the mailer simple and economical. While such mailers have been for the most part successful, most varieties have suffered from the requirement of two-sided printing or the necessity of having a window opening or transparent patch exposing the mailing address. Furthermore, transparent patches such as those composed of cellophane, glassine, and polystyrene render the mailer non-recyclable, and entertain possible registration issues with the addressee indicia disposed on the underlying panel.

Single-sheet mailers without addressee area cutouts or transparent window areas are well represented in the art. A subset of these devices are shown in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0125306, published in September 2002; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0008135, published in January 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,652, issued to S. Seguin in January 1987; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,014, issued to W. Cochran in February 2000.

Mailers with windowed addressee areas composed of cellophane or other transparent material are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,647, issued to J. Yanow in July 1993, which discloses an envelope having top, middle, and bottom portions, where the bottom portion has side flaps, a bottom flap and a window. Folding the single sheet into thirds and sealing the side and bottom flaps of the bottom portion seals the mailer. The window is located on the front panel as a means to show the addressee information therethrough.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,904, issued to R. Potter in November 1997, discloses a single-sheet envelope that is folded over in several portions and is sealed by side flaps and a top flap, where the preprinted address shows through a window. Additional mailers with see-through windows are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,554, issued to D. Sauerwine in December 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,970, issued in February 1997 to Mudry et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,389, issued to Z. Younger, issued in October 2000. All of the above devices require a window cutout or a transparent patch attached to the surface of the paper.

Open or covered windows may be used for addresses and address block barcodes. In order for the U.S. Postal Service high-speed barcode sorters (BCS) to function, the material for covered windows must be clear or transparent and securely attached on all edges. Typically, cellophane, glassine, and polystyrene have been used successfully.

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a recyclable single-sheet mailer solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The recyclable single-sheet mailer of the present invention is a single sheet of predominantly opaque paper stock having a front face, a rear face, first and second opposite end edges, and a plurality of transverse fold lines formed perpendicular to the parallel longitudinal edges, dividing the sheet into a plurality of panels configurable as either a one-way mailer or as a mailer with a business or courtesy reply envelope. Transparent addressee and return address window areas are defined in one or more panels, permitting the underlying addressee information to be viewable from outside of the envelope.

The present invention has been designed to simplify the manufacturing process of single-sheet mailers. One means by which this is accomplished is by having all printed indicia applied to the rear face of the mailer. Furthermore, the transparent window areas are neither cutouts nor transparent patches attached to the face of the mailer. Composed of paper stock that forms the opaque portion of the mailer, the window areas have been made transparent by the application of a chemical agent, thereby providing a seamless transition between the opaque portion of the envelope and the transparent window portion. The transparent windows have sufficient clarity that Postal Service automated equipment may properly process the mailer.

The Postal Service uses two basic types of automated equipment to process letter-size mail: a multiline optical character reader (MLOCR) which scans the address block on each letter-size mailpiece to determine the ZIP+4 code, and the delivery point information and a barcode sorter (BCS) to read POSTNET (POSTal Numeric Encoding Technique) barcodes on letter-size pieces and sort the mail accordingly. Towards this end, the single-sheet mailer incorporates POSTNET barcodes disposed on both the one-way mailer and the return envelope of the two-way mailer.

Furthermore, a two-dimensional barcode containing addressee specific account information may be printed on the reply envelope to facilitate handling when returned to the sender.

Finally, window viewable indicia, including addressee information and bar-coded POSTNET data. may, as an alternative to being printed on an underlying panel, be printed in mirror image on the rear surface of the transparent window area to improve reliability when scanned by U.S. Postal service BCS equipment.

This and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an environmental, perspective view of a recyclable single-sheet one-way mailer according to the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a front view of the mailer of FIG. 1A in an unfolded state to show further details of the mailer.

FIG. 1C is a rear view of the mailer of FIG. 1A in an unfolded state to show further details of the mailer.

FIG. 1D is a diagrammatic perspective view showing successive steps in folding the one-way mailer of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a front view of a second embodiment of a single-sheet one-way mailer of the present invention unfolded and having the addressee information mirror-printed on the back side of the mailer sheet.

FIG. 2B is the rear view of the unfolded one-way mailer of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A is front view of a single-sheet two-way mailer of the present invention in an unfolded state.

FIG. 3B is a rear view of the mailer of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the mailer of FIG. 3A being folded for initial mailing.

FIG. 3D is a rear perspective view of the mailer of FIG. 3A in the process of being opened.

FIG. 3E is a perspective view of the mailer of FIG. 3A showing a check being inserted into the reply envelope portion of the mailer.

FIG. 3F is a perspective view of the mailer of FIG. 3A showing the reply envelope in the process of being sealed.

FIG. 4A is a front view of an alternative embodiment of a two-way mailer of the present invention in an unfolded state with the address indicia printed in mirror image on the rear window portion of the mailer.

FIG. 4B is a rear view of the mailer of FIG. 4A in an unfolded state having the mirror image of addressee indicia printed on the mailer.

FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the mailer of FIG. 4A showing the reply envelope being detached.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is a recyclable single-sheet mailer having four embodiments generally described in the drawings as 100, 200, 300, and 400. All four embodiments are similar, being comprised of a single opaque sheet of recyclable paper stock having a plurality of panels folded in a specific pattern to create either a one-way mailer 100, 200 or a two-way mailer 300, 400. Furthermore, all embodiments are similar in having transparent window areas 104, 106 formed in a panel for displaying the addressee and sender address disposed on an underlying panel. Unlike transparent patches used by other mailers, the mailers of the present invention are formed using a chemical process by which the opaque paper is made transparent in order to form the transparent windows 104, 106.

In order that all address and barcode information be readable through the window, the United States Postal Service requires that the material for covered windows must be securely attached on all edges and satisfy the following minimum reflectance and contract guidelines: (1) A print contrast ratio (PCR) equal to or more than 40 percent in the red and green portions of the optical spectrum is necessary for an MLOCR to recognize address information; and (2) A print reflectance difference (PRD) equal to or more than 30 percent in the red and the green portions of the optical spectrum is necessary for a BCS to recognize POSTNET barcodes.

Cellophane, glassine, and polystyrene have been used successfully to form the window. Postal Service requirements for window coverings and barcode indicia are known to those skilled in the art and are published by the Postal Service.

The present invention uses a chemical process disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2002-327,397, published in November 2002, to make the addressee and return address portions of the envelope transparent. A translated abstract of the aforementioned Japanese patent is included by reference in this application and is described below.

The mailer sheet of the present invention is composed of paper stock that is normally opaque because of a substantial amount of air retained in the fiber of the paper. The air imbedded within the fibers reflects and diffuses light, resulting in the opaque appearance common to an unbleached sheet of paper. However, once the chemical agent disclosed in the '397 is applied to, and penetrates the fiber, the air imbedded within the fibers is absorbed by the solution making the paper transparent.

The chemical agent used in the present invention, as described in the above-referenced Abstract, has the general formula R1O(AO)_(n)R2, wherein R1 and R2 are hydrogen, a C₁-C₂₂ hydrocarbon, or an acyl group and A is a C₂-C₄ alkylene, and has a melting point greater than or equal to 40° C. or is a reaction product of a polyisocyanate with a compound of the above formula in which R1 and R2 are hydrogen. The chemical agent is in solid form at room temperature and must be heated to attain liquid state. The process by which the addressee area 104 and the return address area 106 is made transparent comprises the steps of (1) heating the paper to the material's melting temperature; (2) stamping a sponge like material absorbed with the solution stamps onto the paper; (3) maintaining the stamp against the paper until the chemical agent in solid form melts and the liquefied agent thoroughly penetrates the paper's fibers; and (4) removing the heat source and stamp, thereby allowing the paper to dry and the solution to cool down and retake it's solid state.

Facing Identification Mark (FIM) disposed on the front face of Business Reply Mail (BRM) and Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM) permits computerized cancellation equipment to align, postmark, and direct the mailpiece properly, and is incorporated into the design of the two-way single-sheet mailer.

The U.S. Post Office uses a barcode sorter (BCS) to read POSTNET (POSTal Numeric Encoding Technique) barcodes on letter-size pieces and sort the mail accordingly. Among other requirements, the barcode must always be printed within 4 inches of the bottom edge of the piece, either as part of the address block or within the barcode clear zone in the lower right corner.

In order to ensure successful automated processing, the transparent window and the placement of the address information are designed so that the entire address and postal barcode appear in the window area during any movement of the panels. POSTNET barcodes printed as part of the address block of the addressee, as well as on the return envelope portion, must maintain the minimum clearances as specified by the U.S. Post Office.

Referring to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate a single-sheet mailer 100 formed of a rectangular sheet of paper 102 suitable for processing through an inkjet or other low-heat printer to minimze possible heat damage to the window area. This first embodiment is characterized as a one-way mailer, intended as a business mailer to a customer without having a built-in return envelope.

The mailer 100 is comprised of four panels 116, 118, 120, 122 having front faces as shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1C illustrates the rear face of the mailer 100 with the panel rear faces designated 116′, 118′, 120′, 122′, respectively. The first panel 116 defines a sealing flap 110 and has a water-soluble adhesive strip 144 defined on the inside flap 110′, as shown in FIG. 1C. The flap 110 is folded along fold line 146 over the intervening panels and seals the first panel 116 to the bottom of the front face of second panel 118.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, the first panel 116 has two transparent panels 104, 106, which allow the addressee indicia 152 and the return address indicia 154, which are printed on the inside face 122′ of the fourth panel, to be visible to the BCS. As previously disclosed, the transparent window areas 104, 106 are neither cutouts nor transparent patches of cellophane. These transparent windows 104 and 106 are part of the paper stock that comprise the entire mailer 100, and by means of the chemical process heretofore disclosed, have been chemically treated to remove the air from the paper fibers, thereby making them transparent. A field 108 is defined on panel 116 for receiving a stamp or preprinted mail indicia.

The mailer 100 is provided with a pair of perforated or weakened tear strips 112 defined on the left and right sides of the mailer 100 to facilitate opening by the addressee. Tear strips 112 are commonly formed by means of a line of perforations 148 along the tear line. Opening instructions 126, intended for the addressee, are provided on the front face of the second panel 118.

In addition to the fold line 146 for the sealable flap 110, fold lines 128, 130, and 132 are provided between the first and second panels 116, 118, the second and third panels 118, 120, and the third and fourth panels 120, 122, respectively. Cutouts or notches 114 are defined in the edges of the fourth panel 122 and serve to present underlying adhesive areas 150 to the overlying panel 120, as shown in FIG. 1C.

Still referring to FIG. 1C showing the rear face of the mailer 100, a message area 140, which may include printed indicia referring to the customer's account, is defined in the left portion of the first panel face 116′. A larger statement area 138 is defined across the lower three panel faces 118′, 120′, 122′ and is designed to contain indicia conveying the substantive content of the mailer 100. In order to minimize costs for the one-way mailer 100, all printed indicia, and all adhesive patterns are disposed on the rear face of the mailer 100. Addressee and return address indicia 152, 154 is printed on the right hand portion of the fourth panel rear face 122′ and is registered to be clearly visible through the transparent window areas 104, 106 respectively. The addressee window area 104 is of a transparency sufficient to allow Postal Service BCS equipment to scan the underlying barcode portion of the addressee indicia 152.

FIG. 1D illustrates the sequence of steps 158 by which the one-way mailer 100 is assembled. First, adhesive areas 150 along the side edges of the mailer 100 are moistened. The adhesive material is non-limiting and may be any water-soluble adhesive compound known to those skilled in the art. Next, the bottom rear panel face 122′ of the mailer 100 is folded up towards the first panel rear face 116′ along fold-line 130, whereby panel rear face 122′ is in adhesive contact with panel rear face 116′ and panel rear face 118′ is in adhesive contact with panel rear face 120′, as shown in step 160. Quickly, before the adhesive material 150 dries, panel 120 and the underlying panel 118 are folded upward along fold-line 132, and is held in place by the adhesive 150 beneath the cutouts 114, as shown in step 162. Finally, the adhesive strip 144 on inside flap 110′ is moistened folded, making adhesive contact with the upper edge of panel 118, as shown in step 164. Once assembled, the addressee and return addressee indicia are visible through window areas 104, 106.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a second embodiment of a one-way mailer, designated as 200, in which the addressee information and barcode data 210, as well as the return address indicia 208, are printed in mirror image on the rear face of the transparent windowed areas 104, 106 respectively. Mirror image printing is known in the art and fonts that perform this function, such as “PRMirror” are easily downloaded from the Internet. The benefit of this embodiment is the improvement in clarity of the indicia as observed from the front of the envelope, since the indicia 208 and 210 are printed directly onto transparent windows 106 and 104, respectively, which is important when being scanned by the U.S. Postal Service.

FIG. 3A-3F illustrate the third embodiment of the recyclable single-sheet mailer, which is a two-way mailer 300 that incorporates a return envelope attached to the bottom of a single mailer sheet in which the original addressee may send back an insert, such as a check, to a predetermined address. As in the previous embodiments, the first panel 116 has two transparent window areas 104, 106 for the addressee and return addressee indicia 154, 152, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the front side of the two-way mailer 300 has bottom panels 304 and 306 separated by fold line 310. The return envelope portion is formed by moistening adhesive areas 316, 318 and folding the bottom panel 306 so that it lies against, and is adhesively bonded to, panel 304.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, the rear face 304′ of the third panel 304 forms the front of the return envelope and has address indicia 334 as well as addressee barcode indicia 332 disposed thereon. Furthermore, a Facing Identification Mark (FIM) 330 and a field 336 for placing postage is defined on the front face of the return envelope. The rear face 306′ forms the back of the return envelope and has a two-dimensional barcode 340 disposed thereon. Over twenty different two-dimensional bar code symbologies are currently available and provide high-density storage of information along the height as well as the length of the symbol. Non-limiting, the QR Code 340 shown in present embodiment 300 is capable of encoding 7,336 numeric characters, or 4,464 alphanumeric characters.

FIG. 3C, in conjunction with FIGS. 3A and 3B, illustrates the method by which the two-way mailer is folded prior to being send to the business customer. After the return envelope has been formed, adhesive strips 338 are moistened and panel rear face 304′ is folded along weakened fold line 312, bringing the rear face 304′ of the third panel 304 into contact with panel rear face 118′. In the present embodiment, line 312 is perforated to allow the reply envelope to be torn off by the addressee in preparation for mailing the reply envelope to a predetermined address. To complete formation of the mailer 300, panel rear face 306′ is folded upward so that it is in adhesive contact with panel rear face 116′ such that address indicia 152, 154 appear through window areas 104 and 106, respectively.

When received by the initial addressee, the addressee tears off the perforated edges 112 and peels off inside flap 110′ as shown in FIG. 3D. Upon opening the mailer, the user tears off the reply envelope along tear line 312, and as shown in FIG. 3E, may then insert a check 342 or other insert within the reply envelope before sealing the reply envelope by moistening adhesive area 316 and folding and sealing flap 314 against panel rear face 306′. As shown in FIGS. 3E and 3F, the original addressee indicia 152 becomes the return addressee information on the rear of the reply envelope. Furthermore, the two-dimensional barcode 340 enables the receiving company to scan the envelope to determine account related information prior to opening the envelope.

The fourth and final embodiment, shown in FIGS. 4A-4C, is an alternative two-way mailer, designated as 400, incorporating an integrated reply envelope 410 similar to that of the third embodiment 300, with the mirror, or reverse printed addressee and return addressee indicia 404, 402 respectively, similar to the second embodiment of the one-way mailer 200. The mirror printed information provides high visibility for the indicia that must be scanned by the BCS. Again, because the indicia 402 and 404 is printed directly on the reverse face of transparent windows 106 and 104, clarity is improved and there is no problem with alignment of the indicia with the transparent windows 106 and 104.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A recyclable single-sheet mailer, comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially opaque, recyclable paper having a front face, an opposing rear face, a top edge, a bottom edge, and opposing side edges; a plurality of transverse fold lines formed in the paper stock parallel to the top and bottom edges dividing the sheet of paper into a plurality of panels, each of the panels having a front face and a rear face; at least one transparent and seamless window area formed in the sheet of paper by chemical treatment to render the opaque paper transparent in the window area; and a plurality of adhesive strips disposed on at least one of the faces of the sheet of paper, including at least one strip of adhesive disposed across the rear face adjacent the top edge and defining an inside flap, whereby the sheet of paper is folded and sealed along the inside flap to form a mailer.
 2. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 1, further comprising indicia representing addressee information imprinted on the rear face of the transparent window area in mirror image.
 3. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 1, further comprising indicia imprinted on at least one of the panels representing at least one Postal Service POSTNET barcode.
 4. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of panels includes upper and lower top panels, an upper bottom panel and a lower bottom panel, the upper bottom panel having indicia representing a return address imprinted on the rear face thereof; said plurality of adhesive strips including two adhesive strips disposed on the front face of the upper bottom panel adjacent the side edges and a strip of adhesive extending across the front face of the upper bottom panel defining a reply envelope flap, whereby the upper bottom panel and the lower bottom panel form a reply envelope when separated from the upper and lower top panels.
 5. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 4, further comprising indicia forming a Postal Service POSTNET barcode corresponding to the return address imprinted on the rear face of the upper bottom panel.
 6. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 4, further comprising indicia forming a two-dimensional account data barcode imprinted on the rear face of said lower bottom panel.
 7. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 4, wherein the reply envelope indicia forming a facing identification mark (FIM) disposed thereon.
 8. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 1, wherein the transparent window is formed by a process comprising the steps of: heating the paper; applying a chemical agent to the window area; maintaining the chemical agent on the window area to be until the agent liquefies and thoroughly penetrates fibers of the paper; and cooling and drying the paper.
 9. A recyclable single-sheet mailer, comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially opaque, recyclable paper having a front face, an opposing rear face, a top edge, a bottom edge, and opposing side edges; at least one transparent and seamless window area formed in the sheet of paper by chemical treatment to render the opaque paper transparent in the window area; and indicia representing addressee information imprinted in mirror image on the rear face of the transparent window area.
 10. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 9, further comprising indicia forming a Postal Service POSTNET barcode corresponding to the addressee information imprinted in mirror image on the rear face of the transparent window area.
 11. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 9, wherein said elongated sheet op paper includes a reply envelope formed integrally therewith.
 12. The recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 11, further comprising indicia forming a POSTNET barcode and a two-dimensional account specific barcode disposed on the reply envelope.
 13. A method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer from an opaque sheet of recyclable paper, comprising the steps of: forming a fold line adjacent a top edge of the sheet, thereby forming a flap; coating a rear face of the flap with a strip of adhesive; forming weakened lines along opposite sides of the sheet to form tear away strips, whereby the sheet is capable of being torn along the weakened lines to open the mailer; forming transverse fold lines across the sheet in order to define an upper top panel a lower top panel, an upper bottom panel, and a lower bottom panel; chemically treating at least one portion of the upper top panel to form a transparent window area in the opaque sheet; and applying strips of adhesive to the tear way strips on a rear face of a plurality of the panels.
 14. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 13, further comprising the steps of: forming a notch in the tear away strips of the lower bottom panel; and imprinting an addressee address on a rear face of the lower bottom panel.
 15. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer, according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of: folding the sheet between the lower top panel and the upper bottom panel so that a rear face of the lower bottom panel overlays a rear face of the upper top panel and a rear face of the upper bottom panel overlays a rear face of the lower top panel, the addressee information being aligned with and visible through the transparent window; moistening the adhesive strips on the tear away strips and sealing the overlaid panels together; folding the sheet between the upper bottom panel and the lower bottom panel so that a front face of the upper bottom panel overlays a front face of the lower bottom panel; moistening a portion of the adhesive strip on the tear away strip of the upper top panel exposed by the notch and adhering the upper and lower bottom panels together; and folding the flap over the upper bottom panel, moistening the adhesive on the flap, and sealing the flap.
 16. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 13, further comprising the step of imprinting addressee information on a rear face of the transparent window in mirror image so that the addressee information reads from left to right when the front face of the transparent window is viewed.
 17. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 13, further comprising the steps of: forming a fold line in the upper bottom panel adjacent the lower top panel in order to define a reply envelope flap; and coating a rear face of the reply envelope with a strip of adhesive.
 18. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 17, further comprising the step of forming a line of perforations between the reply envelope flap and the lower top panel, whereby the upper and lower bottom panels may be torn away from the upper and lower top panels in order to form a return envelope.
 19. The method of forming a recyclable single-sheet mailer according to claim 18, further comprising the steps of: coating the tear away strips of the front face of the upper bottom panel with strips of adhesive; and imprinting addressee information on the rear face of the lower bottom panel. 